The Cinema Corner – August 11th

Movie of the week – Back to the Future

If we’re honest, many of the revered movies of the ’80s don’t really hold up beyond nostalgia value. That can’t be said for Robert Zemeckis’s 1985 masterpiece Back to the Future. Featuring a never better Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the film takes what could be a very complicated concept (time travel) and masterfully weaves it into one of the great achievements of blockbuster filmmaking. You can catch the film and its two sequels back to back at the Lighthouse on Saturday.

Annabelle: Creation

Possessed doll movie Annabelle: Creation is a prequel to 2014’s Annabelle, itself a spinoff from 2013’s The Conjuring, but in technical terms at least it’s on another level of quality to both of those films, thanks to some great work by director David Sandberg. Unfortunately, much of his good work is ruined by the film’s child characters, as watching children be terrorised makes it a difficult movie to sit back and enjoy. A cautious recommend.

A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story isn’t a horror movie, as the title might suggest, but rather an existential examination of loneliness, grief and the passing of time, all observed by Casey Affleck, clad in a white shroud as a ghost who returns looking for closure in his relationship with Rooney Mara. It’s a daring concept, but perhaps one more befitting a short than a feature length film.

Atomic Blonde

Charlize Theron auditions for a female 007 role as an ass-kicking spy in ’80s set Cold War spy thriller Atomic Blonde. The film will be remembered for a couple of outrageously staged action set-pieces, with Theron performing her own stunts, but otherwise it’s an over-complicated slog with an annoyingly derivative soundtrack.